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Monday, August 27, 2007


I GUESS JESUS DIDN'T SEE HIM COMING FIRST

As expected, Michael Vick today formally pleaded guilty to one count of interstate constate conspiracy to engage in America's past-time. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson formally warned Vick that he wasn't bound by any deal that the defense reached with federal prosecutors and he could well face a bad spanking come his December 11th sentencing.

But pretty much everyone expected that and has for a week now. The really good stuff started after he left court.

In a hilarious attempt to rehabilitate his public image, Vick made himself available to the press this morning. Well, that may be overstating things somewhat. He didn't do anything crazy like answer questions Instead, he gave the single greatest statement ever given by a convicted felon who has never been in the Manson Family.

For most of my life, I've been a football player, not a public speaker, so, you know, I really don't know, you know, how to say what I really want to say.
Awwwww, he's so humble.

You know, I understand it's - it's important or not important, you know, as far as what you say but how you say things. So, you know, I take this opportunity just to speak from the heart.
I don't think he's aiming to be reinstated in the NFL. Just two paragraphs in, he's starting to sound like he's South Carolina's contestant for the crown of Miss Teen USA.



First, I want to apologize, you know, for all the things that - that I've done and that I have allowed to happen. I want to personally apologize to commissioner Goodell, Arthur Blank, coach Bobby Petrino, my Atlanta Falcons teammates, you know, for our - for our previous discussions that we had. And I was not honest and forthright in our discussions, and, you know, I was ashamed and totally disappointed in myself to say the least.
And I'd also like to apologize to Snoopy, Scooby Doo, Scrappy Doo, Marmaduke, Lassie, Underdog and Santa's Little Helper. Am I missing anybody?
I want to apologize to all the young kids out there for my immature acts and, you know, what I did was, what I did was very immature so that means I need to grow up.
What a scamp, with the dog fighting and interstate conspiracy to engage in gambling and animal cruelty.

Perhaps Michael needs to better define his terms. "Immature" best describes seeting off fireworks on the third of July or egging the mean neighbours house on Halloween. Michael Vick and his compatriots crossed multiple state lines to watch dogs tear one another to pieces and to bet on the results. That kind of conduct can be described a lot of ways. "cruel," "inhuman" and "depraved" all come to mind. I have something of a colorful vocabulary, but "immature" isn't a word that would've come to my mind. I knew there was a reason I couldn't get a football scholarship to Virginia Tech!
I totally ask for forgiveness and understanding as I move forward to bettering Michael Vick the person, not the football player.
You totally ask for forgiveness? Okay, that's different. I thought you were just fucking around until now. I've long believed that you can gauge someone's sincerity by how much they sound like Moon Unit Zappa.

And Mike? I hate to break this to you, but Michael Vick the person and Michael Vick the football player are sort of the same guy. While you lose points for referring to yourself in the third person. However, you gain those points backs for not referring yourself as "we." That's always refreshing.
I take full responsibility for my actions. For one second will I sit right here - not for one second will I sit right here and point the finger and try to blame anybody else for my actions or what I've done.
What he meant was "not for one second longer will I sit here and point the finger and try to blame anybody else for my actions or what I've done." Because he was kind of doing just that for a few months before he got the greatest deal from the feds since Sammy "the Bull" Gravano.

You see, when you issue public statements saying that you bought the property used for the dog fighting for "family members" and you were never there, that's pointing the finger and blaming everybody else - more precisely, your family - for your actions. Just sayin'.
I'm totally responsible, and those things just didn't have to happen. I feel like we all make mistakes. It's just I made a mistake in using bad judgment and making bad decisions. And you know, those things, you know, just can't happen.

Dog fighting is a terrible thing, and I did reject it.
"Y'know,since I got caught. When dog fighting was only losing me a couple of hundred grand, it was kind of fun. Now that I'm going to lose a hundred million dollars and go to prison because of it? Not so much. That's terrible. Horrible even."
I'm upset with myself, and, you know, through this situation I found Jesus and asked him for forgiveness and turned my life over to God. And I think that's the right thing to do as of right now.
Way back when Dennis Miller was still funny, he once did a bit about finding Jesus. You never see anyone finding Jesus on prom night. It's only when you fuck up so horribly that no one else will deal with you that He enters the picture. And the only reason you find Jesus is because He didn't see you coming first.

Maybe I'm being overly picky here, but I didn't see Mike turning over his life to God when he was signing a $130 million contract. It was only when that life was ruined beyond recognition that He was handed what was left. How thoughtful.

Like I said, for this - for this entire situation I never pointed the finger at anybody else, I accepted responsibility for my actions of what I did and now I have to pay the consequences for it. But in a sense, I think it will help, you know, me as a person. I got a lot to think about in the next year or so.

I offer my deepest apologies to everybody out in there in the world who was affected by this whole situation. And if I'm more disappointed with myself than anything it's because of all the young people, young kids that I've let down, who look at Michael Vick as a role model. And to have to go through this and put myself in this situation, you know, I hope that every young kid out there in the world watching this interview right now who's been following the case will use me as an example to using better judgment and making better decisions.

Hey kids? Take my word for it, you really don't want to go to New Jersey, Alabama and South Carolina to see which dog can eat the other's face off the fastest. And you certainly don't want to bet on it. Trust me, no good can come of that. It's expensive, too!

Once again, I offer my deepest apologies to everyone. And I will redeem myself. I have to.

So I got a lot of down time, a lot of time to think about my actions and what I've done and how to make Michael Vick a better person.

Thank you."
Maybe I'm just so much more clever than all of those TV talking head assholes, but there's a couple of things that I noticed about Vick's statement. The first was that the word "dog" was used exactly once. There was no reference at all to gambling, which was sort of the basis of the indictment. Vick can't stop telling you how sorry is, but can't bring himself to say what he's sorry for.

Since yesterday's Vick post came up, I received a comment from Roberta and an e-mail from the lovely De saying that Vick is going to roll on other dog fighting rings. There's a small problem with that. According to both Vick's plea agreement and the agreement of two of his three co-defendants, Mike didn't make most of those trips. He was the money man, and therefore probably doesn't have very much firsthand knowledge about any other rings. Anything he could possibly offer is of neglible value and almost all of it would be excluded as hearsay at any future trials.

Since it appears that Virginia will indict Vick in September and he faces his federal sentencing in December, this story is far from over. Plus there's that small matter of the Falcons lawsuit.

This story is going to last forever.

Easy Listening Recommendation of the Day: Cold Dog Soup By: Guy Clark From: Cold Dog Soup

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